Newcastle hero claims Steve McClaren made a mess of the January transfer window

The Magpies were Europe’s biggest spenders last month, splashing out £29m.

But after their Stamford Bridge debacle, they’re back in the drop zone again.

And, according to Lee, that’s because they blew their cash on luxury items rather than essentials.

Toon chief Steve McClaren signed Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend and French midfielder Henri Saivet and also brought in Roma striker Seydou Doumbia, who has yet to start a game due to a lack of match fitness.

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“It’s like going to get your groceries and you see something and think, ‘I wouldn’t mind that’”

Rob Lee

The 5-1 thrashing at Chelsea exposed Newcastle’s defensive frailities and, according to Lee, that’s the area of the team which required urgent attention but was neglected.

“The two players they’ve bought, Townsend and Shelvey, I like them but if you look at it, they weren’t essential buys,” said Lee, who made 303 league appearances for the club between 1992 and 2002.

“It’s like going to get your groceries and you see something and think, ‘I wouldn’t mind that’.

“But we need a goalscorer, we need a leader at the back, a centre half and a left-back.

“We’ve got Rolando Aarons playing there at the moment. He’s just a young kid and that’s not his position.

“For a club the size of Newcastle, that’s ridiculous really.”

Lee believes the Geordies will avoid relegation but fears it could be a close run thing.

He added: “I don’t see much of them live these days but I wouldn’t want to actually. Chelsea was a poor result and a poor performance.

“That’s the trouble with Newcastle. You think they’ve turned the corner but people forget their previous win was against West Brom who were awful and it was only 1-0.

“They’ve got a lot of problems but I’m not really worried. I think there are three worse teams than Newcastle.”